'No reciprocal sanctions planned against West' - Russian deputy PM

The Deputy Russian PM in charge of the economy and investment has promised that there would be no reciprocal sanctions aimed at various Western nations as this would harm all sides, but said that Russia would continue to act in its own interests.

“Sanctions hurt all countries. We do not intend to introduce
reciprocal sanctions. There is no such agenda in Russia,”
Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov told reporters during the
International Eastern Forum in Berlin.

“The more there are calls for sanctions, the stricter the
sanctions are imposed on Russia, the greater will be the
mobilization of Russian society and we will seek various ways to
overcome these difficulties,” he said. “No threats will
force President Putin and other politicians to act as desired by
the United States, Germany and other partners,” he
emphasized.

“We will act purely in our own interests, having in mind the
common interests that exist in the world,” Shuvalov
promised.

In the same comments he also said that Western partners should
not constantly “drag Ukraine in different directions” by
suggesting to its people only one alternative solution – either
enter the associated agreement with the EU or become part of the
Customs Union.

The United States, the European Union and several other countries
and international groups have imposed individual sanctions on
Russia in reply to its agreement to accept the Crimean Autonomous
Republic, which voted to secede from Ukraine after a violent coup
brought to power a group of politicians with clearly anti-Russian
intentions.

The Russian Foreign Ministry and Parliament have repeatedly
denounced the policy of sanctions as inappropriate and
counter-productive. Some Russian MPs have suggested the possibility of Russian
sanctions against US businesses, but these ideas have not been
implemented.